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Originally posted by Gary Schenk: I thought I was going to be fast, but then I hit Beautiful Brown Eyes. I may need electroshock therapy to get my hands to cooperate with each other. I'm stopping now, maybe it will go better tomorrow. [/b]

:D

Taking a break is a great idea Gary because you should always trust your body and your mind as to when it needs it.

It will get better. Give yourself lots of chances, and plenty of patience and you'll surely grasp it in due time.

I've just taken a break myself after about an hour and a half of practicing because I started to feel my left wrist started to feel a bit of a strain with some slight pain. I always stop at any signs of abnormal stress or strains.

Originally posted by Key Notes:I've just taken a break myself after about an hour and a half of practicing because I started to feel my left wrist started to feel a bit of a strain with some slight pain. I always stop at any signs of abnormal stress or strains.

Just a reminder, I'm looking for recordings (Either song files or video) of book one pieces to link on the opening page. From the very first exercises to the end. It will be used as a reference for any and all using book one. Just the work that goes into recording clean pieces will help you improve as well. So let Alfred make you famous...

Thanks

Mark... [/b]

Wish I can help you out Mark... but at this stage of my playing, my recordings could hardly be viewed or listened as an accurate source of reference point, even tempting as it may with a chance of becoming "famous". And even if by chance some years down the road I managed to make some minute improvements, I still do have my doubts as to whether the benefits of becoming famous, at anything, will outweighs the price.

BTW, I enjoyed listening to your recital #11, Prelude in D minor, from Alfred's book 3 immensely. Beautiful music made even better with beautiful playing.

Originally posted by Key Notes:I've just taken a break myself after about an hour and a half of practicing because I started to feel my left wrist started to feel a bit of a strain with some slight pain. I always stop at any signs of abnormal stress or strains.

#1071374 - 08/19/0808:58 AMRe: Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1

Chaplin
Full Member
Registered: 07/17/08
Posts: 30
Loc: the Netherlands

Hi guys!Time for a progress report…I’ve just finished Jericho and at an earlier moment I’ve already used Greensleeves, Scarborough Fair and Almonds and Raisins as a ’treat’. I really liked those pieces, mostly because of the broken chords. (I’ve decided to change the Greensleeves from the Alfred book for an other arrangement with broken chords).

Sometimes I’m a little fed up with the block chords in most of the songs in the Alfred book. I don’t really like the sound that much. But so far so good and I’m cruising slowly but happily towards the end of book 1 (and really looking forward to book 2... )How are you all doing?

Have a nice day from Chaplin

_________________________
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —I took the 'one less traveled' by,And that has made all the difference.

Just a reminder, I'm looking for recordings (Either song files or video) of book one pieces to link on the opening page. From the very first exercises to the end. It will be used as a reference for any and all using book one. Just the work that goes into recording clean pieces will help you improve as well. So let Alfred make you famous...

Thanks

Mark... [/b]

Wish I can help you out Mark... but at this stage of my playing, my recordings could hardly be viewed or listened as an accurate source of reference point, even tempting as it may with a chance of becoming "famous". And even if by chance some years down the road I managed to make some minute improvements, I still do have my doubts as to whether the benefits of becoming famous, at anything, will outweighs the price.

BTW, I enjoyed listening to your recital #11, Prelude in D minor, from Alfred's book 3 immensely. Beautiful music made even better with beautiful playing.

Cheers,

Key Notes [/b]

Thanks you so much for the kind words. It proves that even a hack like me can play with a ton of practice.

As for you recording, in time you will do it. And recording does make you better, so its a win/win situation.

I also like to add multiple versions of the same pieces, so someday we will get you there. My teacher tells me you generally aren't good where your currently at but where you have been. So when you get to book two, your book one stuff will be very nice...just keep up the hard work!

Originally posted by Dave123: Well I finally started BTMD, all I can say is help.I can play the left hand OK same with the right hand melody, things really go south when I try and bring them together. [/b]

Its a tough one. But if you go really slow and slowly blend the hands together and then gradually pick up speed you will get it. It's pieces like this that help us with hand independence.

Looking for supplementary piano music, Classical? If your browsing around second hand book shops, charity shops, car boot sales (garage sales in the USA)or eBay, look for old issues of the ABRSM (the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) grade one "Piano Examination Pieces", the exam pieces seem to change each year, a lot of the grade one pieces are Alfred's book one level, I've bought piles of the ABRSM books of all the grades over the last year and I'd like to copy some of the pieces and give them to my Alfred's colleagues here but there's still the copyright problem. Anyway, you can pick up the old copies for a few pence (cents), when you find it. I think there are Jazz versions too but I'm not sure, I've never stumbled on any...yet.

I've done reasonably well with charity shop finds, including ABRSM books. Certainly enough to keep me occupied for some time. It's nice to have variety available that have cost pennies rather than pounds. I've kept my purchases rather simple though. No higher than ABRSM Grade 3.

Bastien adult piano supplemental material may be worth a look. I've only tried Classics themes by the Masters but for me it fitted well with Alfred 1. Simplified arrangements though, so I switched to other unmodified pieces such as those found in Denes Agay Classics to Modern.

I've had a traumatic few weeks so went back to easy pieces including end of Alfred 1 which I was tackling about a year ago. I can't get my head around starting anything new that's complicated {for me} and it's been a pleasant surprise to find how much better they sound than when I last tackled them. I've always found reviewing earlier pieces helpful and encouraging.

Congratulations angelojf on getting your Book one, it's all about enthusiasm and getting the practice time in, when you think it's beating you take a rest for a day, or two, then go back, it's amazing how it all seems to come together then. Also, check out the recital threads for inspiration.

Hi Everyone, I hope you all have been doing well and are still enjoying your learning and creating beautiful music processes.

I'm currently working on learning the RH extended positions and the "On top of Old Smoky" piece, as well as continuing to fine tune and practice the jazz and blues progression pieces. I try to focus on learning the locations of the narrow, black sharp/flat keys since there are more of them in these pieces now. They are pretty hard to hit, especially at higher speed and for someone with narrow fingers like me. And of course reviewing some of my previously learned lessons, favorites pieces and the Hanon exercises.

Chaplin, That's really great that you're almost done with book one. Congrats! I share your feelings regarding the block chords verses broken ones, and I can't wait to get to those three songs that you've mentioned.

Angelojf, Congratulations on receiving your book one and welcome to this thread.

While I don't have any expert advise in regards to learning how to play the Bass Clefs being a beginner myself, I can share with you the process with which I've been using that have been working for me so far. I started with learning each of the Treble and the Bass Clefs, hands separate, until I've gotten the timing and the rhythms down pretty well. Then I slowly learn each measure, hands together, and continue to add on one measure at a time after that until the end, focusing and working on problem areas with lots of repetitions as necessary until they are smooth. Then I continue to further fine tune the dynamics, tones, and timing after that. Hope this helps.

And what a great question you've posed regarding supplemental materials for us Alfred’s beginners. It'll certainly come in handy for when we are ready to add them to our current curriculum. Thanks for asking, and of course many thanks to John Frank and Mark... for always coming to our rescue with answers and suggestions.

Dave123, I can definitely relate with your feelings regarding BTMD. I still occasionally go back to practice it, and if it's any consolation, I and a few others that I know since I've joined also went through similar hurdles. We persevered and prevailed, and so will you. Best of luck.

Crusader, Thank you very much for all of your great suggestions as to the other alternative places where we beginner troops can also find sweet sheet music deals, and for your very kind and nice interests in sharing some of your collections with us. Thank you so much for thinking of us, but as you've aptly pointed out, it's best that we do the purchasing for ourselves.

It's a funny coincidence that you should mentioned these second-hand book stores because about a couple of months into my piano learning adventure, I happened to be passing by one and decided to quickly check to see if they would have any sheet music for sale. They don't just have them but they have oodles of them. Anything from Alfred’s, Bastien's and Faber’s' methods, techniques and theory books to ABRSM's grades 1 through 8 of the "Piano Examination Pieces", and more... Bastien's arrangements of "Classic Themes by the Masters", as well as the book of 148 Easy Originals, Vol. 27, of the "More Easy Classics to Moderns", compiled and edited by Denes Agay, whom Sundew had mentioned.

I perused for about an hour, I think, kind of lost track of time. I wanted to buy that "More Easy Classics to Moderns" by Denes Agay so badly, but amazingly, I left without buying anything. :rolleyes: Must practice self-discipline and self-control. Well, at least until I'm finished with book one.

Sundew, Thank you for all of your great tips and recommendations as well. And I certainly agree, it's not just important to push one with new challenges but it's also equally important and rewarding to revisit and review what we've learned in the past as well.

I started "Rock It Away" this morning. The right hand was easy, but I found that I forgot how to play a couple of those left hand chords. We've only scratched the surface of chords so far in Book 1, and I already can't remember which ones are which and how to play them. I guess I'm going to have look up all the ones I've "learned" so far and make a point of really learning them.

Regarding Blow the Man Down: I've worked my way up to O Sole Mio, and I think BTMD is the biggest jump in difficulty in the book, since that's where I had the most trouble.

This is probably too late for you Dave, but here is how I worked it out. The lowest common denominator is the 8th note, so count in terms of that. Then each measure is 6 counts.1: LH and RH together2: nothing3: LH new note4: RH new note5: LH and RH together new note6: nothing

Although I figured out that's what I need to do, coordinating my hands to do that was another matter. The mind wants to do one thing but the hands have their own ideas. It's pretty easy to get frustrated. When that happens, just take a deep breath and relax yourself.

The key is to go stupidly slow, like 1 count per second. Don't even try to make it sound like music, just think of it as pressing a bunch of keys in succession. That's really the hardest part. Once you do it a few times, the hands will understand what they are supposed to do, and then you can gradually increase the tempo. Hope this helps someone.

For me, Blow the Man Down was the toughest song to get through. Even now, when I go back to it, it occasionally gives me trouble when I go back to it. When I was learning it, I just played the first 4 measures slowly over and over until I could get it without stumbling. It's difficult because you have hands together with unusual timing - two things that are hard enough to learn by themselves withough trying to combine them. Once you've got those first 4 measures, the rest will come relatively easily.

Originally posted by chiyosdad: Regarding Blow the Man Down: I've worked my way up to O Sole Mio, and I think BTMD is the biggest jump in difficulty in the book, since that's where I had the most trouble.

This is probably too late for you Dave, but here is how I worked it out. The lowest common denominator is the 8th note, so count in terms of that. Then each measure is 6 counts.1: LH and RH together2: nothing3: LH new note4: RH new note5: LH and RH together new note6: nothing [/b]

No not to late at all, I have been reading the posts of advice and all have been welcome, I haven't responded probably as quickly as I should. It has been hectic around here lately so haven't spent to much time on the forum.Anyway I am making progress, BTMD is now recognisable (somewhat) but I have still quite away to go before I move on to the next hurdle. I wonder sometimes if I am beginning to loose it a little, I go to bed with the tune going through my mind trying to visualize (visualize sure that's the wrong word to use) how I should play it Thank you for your input along with the other helpful members

im new to the forum, looks great! i have been following afred's basic adult piano course level 1 for some time now... im on the stranger on p 129... and looking forward to the entertainer and level 2...

i have a query that i hope someone might have the answer to..

I am using the 'all in one' book at the moment, which includes some theory... however, i now see that there are supplementary adult basic theory books which seem like they may contain more conclusive theory ...

is it better to study using the standard practice book (not all in one) + the theory book aswell... (or even the all in one book plus the theory book?)

i like the alfred books and just want to get the most out of them and especially do more theory...

any opinions on the different books would be much appreciated..

i dont want to leave gaps, so any thoughts on the best books and methods to go about this would be great...i assume alfred's is pretty much the best way to go for self taught adult learning..

im new to the forum, looks great! i have been following afred's basic adult piano course level 1 for some time now... im on the stranger on p 129... and looking forward to the entertainer and level 2...

i have a query that i hope someone might have the answer to..

I am using the 'all in one' book at the moment, which includes some theory... however, i now see that there are supplementary adult basic theory books which seem like they may contain more conclusive theory ...

is it better to study using the standard practice book (not all in one) + the theory book aswell... (or even the all in one book plus the theory book?)

i like the alfred books and just want to get the most out of them and especially do more theory...

any opinions on the different books would be much appreciated..

i dont want to leave gaps, so any thoughts on the best books and methods to go about this would be great...i assume alfred's is pretty much the best way to go for self taught adult learning..

thanks,

Matt [/b]

Welcome Matt!

I think you can do well with either book (All in one or the regular book.) But the more you add the better, as long as you don't spread yourself too thin. I think the key is staying focused on the course and taking your time and enjoying the journey.